Hi everyone, There will be a new GNUstep library release coming up, which will break binary compatibility with the GNUstep libraries currently in Debian. (The versions currently in Debian are one release old, and the current GNUstep release already breaks binary compatibility with what is currently in Debian.) Since the new release adds many new features, we would like to get it into etch if possible. Since the general freeze for etch is only a couple of months away, that means that if we want to make it happen, we'll have to make a very, very smooth library transition.
So here's what needs to happen: If you maintain a package that uses the GNUstep libraries, you will need to change your build-depends. Instead of build-depending on libgnustep-gui0.10-dev, you should build-depend on libgnustep-gui-dev, and instead of libgnustep-base1.11-dev, you should build-depend on libgnustep-base-dev. These will be the names of the new -dev packages for the new GNUstep libraries, which will enable us to do smoother transitions later on by allowing us to do binNMUs. (And ftpmaster seems to prefer those names.) The current -dev packages already provide those names, so it should even be safe to upload packages with the new build-depends, if you were already planning on doing an upload soon. So there's no reason to delay making the change. You can do it right away, and should do it as soon as possible. This should be the only change that you should need to make to your packages. GNUstep upstream has promised me a new release of GNUstep gui by next week, and so it should be uploaded by the end of the month. (It better be uploaded by then, because I'll be away from reliable Internet for the beginning of next month.) I'll send out another announcement once it's been uploaded (or, at least, once I send the packages to myon to get uploaded). Once it is uploaded, and built on all architectures, you will need to reupload your packages so that it will be rebuilt with the new libraries. If you also build-depend on a library that needs to be rebuilt, make sure you upload after that library has been rebuilt. (I think the only such libraries that we have are renaissance, pantomime, pantomime1.2, popplerkit, addresses-for-gnustep, and gnustep-netclasses.) Hopefully this transition will be much smoother than the last one. There were a couple of things that made the last GNUstep transition very long, and none of those should happen this time around, so keep your fingers crossed. In addition, I'll be aggressively NMUing packages that need to be reuploaded. That means that if it has been at least 7 days since your package could have been uploaded, and it hasn't been uploaded yet, I will send you a warning, and then I may NMU it shortly thereafter (since it will be an RC bug). Looking forward to etch+1, I'd like to start working on a GNUstep packaging policy, since there are things that we do that should be documented and clarified. Hopefully, we will also be able to get the Etoile components into Debian as well, which should improve the GNUstep environment. Finally, here is a list of packages that will need to be rebuilt for the upcoming transition: Debian Games Team/Eddy Petrișor: oolite Gürkan Sengün: zipper.app wrapperfactory.app volumecontrol.app viewpdf.app timemon.app textedit.app terminal.app talksoup.app stepulator.app stepbill.app shisen.app rssreader.app projectmanager.app projectcenter.app price.app preview.app preferences.app poe.app plopfolio.app open.app mpdcon.app mknfonts.tool mines.app lynkeos.app lusernet.app latex.service lapispuzzle.app ladder.app innerspace.app helpviewer.app gtamsanalyzer.app grouch.app gridlock.app gorm.app gomoku.app gnuwash.app ftp.app edenmath.app easydiff.app displaycalibrator.app cynthiune.app connect.app charmap.app cenon.app cddb.bundle camera.app biococoa.app batmon.app agenda.app aclock.app (I think you've also adopted these packages from Brent:) steptalk gnustep-netclasses Jonathan Shipley: gworkspace.app Vincent Danjean: paje.app me: renaissance pantomime pantomime1.2 popplerkit.framework gnumail.app affiche addresses-for-gnustep I think that's it. Let me know if I've missed any packages, or if I've misattributed some packages. -- Hubert Chan - email & Jabber: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - http://www.uhoreg.ca/ PGP/GnuPG key: 1024D/124B61FA (Key available at wwwkeys.pgp.net) Fingerprint: 96C5 012F 5F74 A5F7 1FF7 5291 AF29 C719 124B 61FA
